The number of houses built in Carmarthenshire crept up in 2025-26 but was below a council forecast.
A report before the council’s cabinet said 373 homes were completed in 2025-26, which was fewer than the 520 that had been projected at this point last year but 11 more than were completed in 2024-25. A further 337 were under construction.
Councils have long-term planning blueprints called local development plans (LDPs) which put a figure on how many new homes are likely to be needed.
The current development plan in Carmarthenshire identified a requirement of 15,197 homes over 15 years up to 2021, which works out as almost exactly 1,013 per year on average. It’s still in force while a revised plan looking ahead to 2033 is being finalised.
The annual LDP monitoring report before cabinet said housing completions have only exceeded 700 twice since 2007-08. In one year, 2022-23, they dropped to 229.
“The reasons for the decrease could only be speculated upon but could include the cost of living crisis, the number of available sites, and the fact that the adopted LDP is now past its end date, or even the after-effects of the Covid-19 pandemic,” said the cabinet report, repeating word for word what was written in last year’s monitoring report.
Cllr Carys Jones, cabinet member for rural affairs, communities and Welsh language, said environmental constraints, housing delivery and infrastructure requirements “remain key planning challenges”.
She said flood risk planning policy in Wales had been updated, strengthening requirements about building in flood-prone areas.
“This has implications for [housing] site allocations and future development opportunities across the county,” she said.
Concerns about levels of polluting dissolved inorganic nitrogen in marine special areas of conservation including the Burry Inlet was another issue, she said, as some planned housing developments may have to prove they won’t add to that pollution via the wastewater they generate or provide mitigation measures.
Cllr Jones said monitoring of the LDP confirmed that it remained effective but “it does highlight the growing importance of environmental regulation”.
Cllr Emlyn Schiavone said: “The circumstances are challenging with more need for housing but also the importance of protecting our communities who are facing severe flooding.”
Carmarthenshire’s population is around 190,000. The LDP monitoring report also included data on “primary retail” vacancy rates, which fell in Llanelli and Ammanford in 2025-26 but increased in Carmarthen.
